Chinese netizens aghast at sight of rat being strung up, forced to ‘apologize’ for stealing rice from shop

Two controversial photos of an unfortunate rat’s “apology” after being caught stealing from a convenience store in Heyuan, Guangdong province have gone viral on Chinese social media.In the first photo, the rat is shown tied up by its limbs spread eagle with a placard around its neck protesting its innocence. “Even if you beat me to death, I will still not admit that I stole your rice,” the sign reads.However, the next photo shows that the rat has changed its tune with a different placard declaring that it has decided to apologize after all. “I won’t dare do it again,” the presumably now dead rat promises.

The two images have caused a stir on Weibo with netizens debating over whether this is a case of animal cruelty with some saying that the photos reminded them of intellectuals being tortured during the Cultural Revolution.“I’ve had enough of these saintly animal lovers. Why not release one of these pests into your home to steal, bite and bring sickness? Is that ok?” writes one netizen.“You could have just killed this kind of thief quickly, but instead you slowly tortured it. This is a bit inhumane. I’m no saint, I just can’t stand to see needless cruelty,” another Weibo user responded.Meanwhile, others are more focused on the rodent’s knowledge of Chinese characters.“You wrote “zai” wrong, you illiterate rat,” reads one of the top comments, pointing out that the second sign incorrectly uses 在 (meaning “at”) instead of 再 (meaning “again”).[Images via Chengdu Business Daily]